BigBear45

Sorry if this has been asked a million times, but i was wondering 2 things...

How to take off the bowtie in the front and back for painting or decals...? Whichever i decide to do.

What works better Decals or painting them yourself.

txbass06

I went to a local decal shop and bought some black vinyl. I cut out a piece and stuck it on the bowties and used a razor to trim off the excess. There's a gap between the gold bowtie and the chrome trim. I think it looks pretty good...

twistrman

that is how i did mine as well. It takes about 10 minutes, and mine have been on for other a year. Only need to redo 1 now, and it was iffy from the beginning.

prod

The bowties are stuck on with double-sided tape. I would just do it on the car being careful to mask off the bowtie well. I tried the vinyl overays, didnt last for me.

Doc brown

I didn't take mine off. I used masking tape and newspaper. Mask off first, then use an Xacto knife to trim the edges. Then tape the paper around it in an area large enough to protect the area.

BigBear45

how well did it the paint stay on because from past experiences the paint has not only come off, but has stained other parts.

budokai140

Im only about 3 weeks into my painted bowties, but i made sure to do a couple coats of clearcoat to seal it up nice. No running or staining so far, and thats after rain and extreme heat (85-90ish). I say paint all the way :)

twistrman

PM me if you want some vinyl tips, if you go that way with it.

Mine has been in pouring rain, temps over 100, temps at -30, 100mph speeds, and the front one looks as good as the day I put it on. Plus it was free, since the vinyl shop I went to just gave me some scrap. It doesn't take much to cover them.

Doc brown

The quality of the job is all in the prep work. If you tape off properly it shouldn't stain or bleed. Use 3M masking tape. Anything else is inferior and will almost always cause you trouble. Keep in mind, that 3M invented masking tape specially for painting cars. It's critical that you wet sand the emblem, preferably with 600 or 500 grit paper. This gives the paint/primer something to "grab" onto. Ideally you'd use automotive grade primer, but frankly in this case, I didn't see the need. Make sure BEFORE you wet sand to use a prep cleaner on them to remove wax and other contaminants. If you don't, you'll just be asking for trouble. You should be able to pick that up at any NAPA store that sells auto paint (not all of them do). If you can't do that, clean it first with a clean cotton cloth dampened with mineral spirits, followed by water with car wash soap added. DO NOT use dish soap. That'll just make the paint wrinkle.

Use automotive quality paint and shoot when its 75 or above. I used a can of blue metallic Duplicolor for the color coats. Practice a bit on something other than the emblems. Spray a very light coat on just to get some paint on, let if flash off for about 20 minutes. Then shoot another heavier coat. Not to heavy though, you don't want it to run. Let it flash off for 20 minutes, then shoot a final coat.

I'm going to let it cure for a week, then hand buff it with polishing compound followed by micropolish. I'll try and post some pictures when its done.

BigMOCats

Couple notes on the above, 3M makes different levels of masking tape, I'd make sure you bought it at an autobody supply store. Secondly, just using a scuff pad on the emblems works well too. If you don't know what that is, ask at the supply store, they'll hook you up. I just scuffed mine, along with all my tail and marker lights, and have never had any paint peeling or flaking. I eventually eliminated both my bowties because even color coordinated, they're are still UGLY!